The Clarksville Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended disapproval of an applicant’s request to rezone a parcel at the north terminus of Kennedy Lane (near Exit 4) from C-4 to C-5 Highway Arterial Commercial, a change the applicant says is needed to operate a nursery.

Planning staff told the commission the request is inconsistent with the city’s Future Land Use Map and the adopted plan for the Saint Bethlehem Planning Area and noted the parcel’s limited usable frontage along Arco Highway and partial FEMA floodplain designation on its western boundary. Staff said the C-5 district permits a broader range of auto-oriented commercial uses that are not complementary to the surrounding suburban-neighborhood designation.

Speaker 1 read the applicant’s written statement: “When I purchased the property, I was informed that the existing zone permit me to operate a new nursery business. However, I have since learned that the current zoning does not allow [that] use and now need to pursue a rezoning in order to operate my business as intended.” That statement was entered into the record but, per staff, an agricultural-commercial district would have allowed the nursery while avoiding the broader commercial uses allowed in C-5.

Planning staff also reported the Street Department did not require a traffic assessment, saying traffic improvements would be determined at site-plan review if the site redevelops. Staff advised attention to the area where the FEMA floodplain touches the parcel’s west boundary.

Councilman Streetman, the first council member to question the item in the transcript, noted the matter had been deferred previously to allow the applicant time to consider different zoning options and asked whether staff had discussed an agricultural-commercial zoning alternative with the applicant. “Could you talk a little bit about the opportunities that could be utilized under C-5?” Streetman asked. Staff replied that they had spoken with the applicant and that the applicant had advanced the C-5 option after prior deferrals.

The planning commission’s recommendation was recorded in the hearing transcript as disapproval; no formal City Council vote or final council action on the rezoning appears in the provided transcript segment. The commission’s recommendation and staff analysis will appear in the record for any subsequent council hearing on the request.

Clarifying details recorded in the hearing: the parcel is in Council Ward 12, within the Saint Bethlehem Planning Area, contains a billboard, and abuts the western FEMA-designated flood area; staff stated some developable land exists on the site but that usable frontage on Arco Highway is limited. The applicant’s request and the commission’s recommendation were the principal actions recorded in the transcript.